I feel a breeze in the house so I look around and, sure enough, an outside door is open. This is a new thing. We will call it the open door phase. Literally.

We grew up in the times of screen doors and no air conditioning. The door was shut behind you so the bugs wouldn’t get in. A door could also be shut in a way to express your emotions, but that is another story. In the winter, the door was closed so the warm air wouldn’t escape and the cold air seep in. It was a kind reprimand if you were asked after leaving a door open, “Were you born in a barn?” There were much more dire consequences if you left the door open more than once in a short period of time.

Eventually, we had houses with air conditioning, so then it was just as imperative to keep the outside doors shut. We were warned repeatedly not to waste electricity by leaving the door open.

All those warnings have gone by the wayside now. A door left open is a frequent occurrence and something to be ignored, unless of course the wind is blowing as a second outside door is opened whereby one or both doors will slam shut. Such slams reawaken the taboo on leaving on the door open and someone will be blamed for doing so because he doesn’t recall entering his open door phase. Just accept the blame and keep a closer watch on the open doors. It’s not that much of a loss of electricity and you can swat any bugs that enter. No big deal. Literal open doors don’t matter as much as figurative ones now.